Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton's future with the watchdog is in question after a review into a decision not to investigate six people referred to it by the robodebt royal commission. The watchdog inspector found Mr Brereton engaged in misconduct by not recusing himself entirely from the decision-making process after declaring a close association with a person involved.

Commissioner Brereton is a former Supreme Court judge and the head of the federal corruption watchdog, and conflict declarations are a fundamental control of the judicial process. It is incomprehensible to suggest that the commissioner made such a basic mistake. Commissioner Brereton must answer to the court, where a jury can decide whether or not he made the mistake or acted intentionally.

Commissioner Brereton's media statements further eroded trust when he was quoted in the media saying, 'Perhaps the most important lesson is that we are not the best person to manage our own conflict of interest.' This is an outrageous statement that has no credibility whatsoever. It is incomprehensible that the commissioner expects the public to believe that a former Supreme Court judge, and the head of the federal corruption watchdog is only now learning how to manage a conflict of interest. If this statement is true then the commissioner has rendered himself unfit to head the national corruption watchdog.